The race is on!

Day five nat’s. The forecast was for light west winds, strong lift and a high cloud base. I’m a little sceptical with all the rain we’ve had and don’t believe the lift is going to be that great. We decide on a double out and return to Parson. This will help to keep pilots bunched up so you see lot’s of gliders on course. The total distance is 126km. We push the start times back to 3:30 to let the day develop and make sure it’s soarable before making pilots launch. I’m thinking it will get better later so I launch later and plan on taking the last start gate. After I take off I have no trouble getting up over launch and head to Mt 7 to get in position for the first start. I mess around a little too much and as the last start ticks by I’m just starting to climb in a strong thermal. I stick with it as I’m climbing fast and take the last start a little late. We run into plenty of lift on course but not all of it is worth turning in. I stop to turn when my vario pegs off the scale but on the back side is sink. I waste time all day stopping for this fools lift never learning my lesson. In the end I make goal but very slow. Launch is the goal cylinder and I come into goal 400’ below the turn point. First time I’ve ever finished below goal height. After tagging goal I head around to the towers and get back up again. I fly around with Scott doing a tandem and the paraglider tandems for 40 min after I finished the task. By the time I land my flight is almost five hours. Need to pick up the pace tomorrow if I hope to gain any ground.